


C is for Crash

by Jazzie



Series: A to Z of Danny Whump! [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:33:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8594551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazzie/pseuds/Jazzie
Summary: Danny's morning had started so well.





	

Danny Williams was a happy man.  He had just spent the previous evening with his daughter, she had been allowed to stay with him overnight and now he was getting to drop her at school.  The road he was on was quiet, it being earlier than normal for the school run.  He had to be in the office early this morning to go with Steve to speak to a witness in their latest case, so had arranged for Grace to attend a before school program for children whose parents needed to drop them off a little earlier.

Grace Williams was a happy little girl.  She loved her Danno and getting to spend time with him during the week was always a treat. 

“So, Monkey, what have you got on at school today?” Danny asked his daughter.

“Danno!  I told you last night!” was the exasperated sounding response he got.

The man in question chuckled and looked at his daughter briefly in his rear view mirror, “You’ll need to remind me, I’m getting old and then of course there’s the fact that I work with your Uncle Steve.  I’m sure working with him is killing my brain cells!”

The little girl rolled her eyes at her Dad’s antics.  She loved Uncle Steve, he had a great beach behind his house and she could go swimming there with him, “You’re silly!”

Danny pulled the Camaro to a stop at a red light and glanced back at his daughter, giving her his patented ‘Danno’ grin before turning his attention back to the road, “Come on remind me,” he insisted, as the light turned green and he pulled into the intersection as he looked both ways, ever cautious with his precious cargo.

The moment he turned his head to the left he saw the truck coming at them and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.  In the seconds before impact he slammed on his brakes, instinctively knowing that if he carried on the truck would likely strike the back of the Camaro and he couldn’t let that happen even if Grace was sitting on the right side of the car, she could still be badly injured.

The sound of metal slamming into metal cut off any thoughts the Detective may have had, as the truck and car collided and both were spun round, the truck was practically glued to the front left of the Camaro.

Both vehicles came to a stop in the middle of the intersection.  Danny had remained conscious throughout and now was surrounded by an almost eerie silence before his brain caught up with the world.  The truck’s horn was sounding loudly in the quiet morning but Danny had only one thing on his mind, one person, “Grace?” he started to turn his head to look over his right shoulder but he was brought up short by a pain shooting down his neck and into his shoulders.  He wanted to ignore it, to check on his baby girl but he physically couldn’t.  “Grace?  Monkey, are you alright.”

“Daddy?” Hearing his daughter’s voice was a relief, but there was a tremble in it that caused his heart to constrict.

“It’s alright Gracie.  We’ve been in an accident but it’s going to be alright.  Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so,” she let out a quiet sob.

“Monkey, I can’t move to get to you,” he had tried but his legs seemed to be pinned where the truck had pushed the side panel in, “I need you to stay still for me, can you do that?” he was worried that she might have suffered a spinal injury as he couldn’t see the extent of any damage to either her or the car.

“Daddy…”

“Grace, I need you to listen to me.  You need to promise me that you won’t move, please.”

She sniffed back her tears and did the only thing she could do, “I promise.”

“Good girl.  I’m going to call 911, then I’ll call Uncle Steve,” he managed to ease the phone out of his pocket, dial the emergency number and put the phone on speaker, he didn’t think that he could hold the phone up to his ear with the pain shooting through his neck and shoulders.

When the call was answered Danny explained the situation and the dispatcher assured him that she would send out the necessary rescue services.  She asked him to stay on the line but he had another important call to make.  He couldn’t be there for Grace in the way he wanted to right now, but he knew a Super SEAL that would break land speed records to get to her, and him, to help.

He pressed speed dial #2 on his cell, once again putting it on speaker.

 

 

\---- 5-0 ----

 

 

Steve McGarrett was pacing the office waiting for his partner to arrive, he should have been there fifteen minutes ago but Steve had so far avoided calling the man to demand where he was, since he knew that he had Grace to get to school.

Chin and Kono were at the computer table in their main office watching and exchanging glances that said quite clearly that neither of them was willing to stop their boss from his pacing.

Steve’s cell rang and he pulled it out noting the name on the display, “Danny where the hell are you?”

Any other time Danny would have berated his partner for using language like that around his daughter, but given the circumstances and the fact Steve had no idea Grace was still in the car, he let it slide, “Steve…”

There was something in the Detective’s voice that set the Commander’s gut churning and he quickly flipped his phone to speaker so that Chin and Kono could hear, “What’s wrong Danny?”

“Been an accident…”

Kono used the computer to triangulate Danny’s location as soon as Steve placed it on the table.

“Are you hurt?”

“Grace…”

“She’s still with you?”

“Was on my way to drop her off.  Called 911 but need you to…”

Danny didn’t have to say any more, Kono had his location and the three team members were already on their way out the door, “We’re on our way man, just stay on the phone.  Are either of you hurt?”

“I’m fine but I’m pinned and can’t check on Grace.”

“I’m alright Danno,” Grace’s voice could be heard over the line, trembling but definitely her voice.

“Grace, we’ll be with you soon OK?”

“OK Uncle Steve.”

The rest of the team knew how much his little girl meant to Danny and if he was unable to get to her and see for himself that she was uninjured he must be going out of his mind with worry.  Steve had also caught the slight tremble in his partner’s voice and wasn’t so convinced that Danny was as fine as he was saying.

They piled into Steve’s truck and he tore out of the Palace parking lot like the devil was after him switching on lights and sirens as he did.  There was no way he was stopping for traffic signals when Danny and his daughter needed him.

Kono kept up a stream of reassuring chatter with Grace as Steve concentrated on driving, they reached the crash scene within six minutes of receiving Danny’s call.  All three jumped out, Steve ran to the passenger side knowing Danny would want him to check Grace first, Chin went round to check on Danny and Kono went to check on anyone in the truck.

“Grace,” Steve opened the front door and pulled the seat forward allowing him to lean in properly.

“Uncle Steve!”

“I need you to stay still for me alright?”

“Just like you promised me Monkey, remember?” Danny quickly reiterated, grateful that Grace now had someone to be with her, though he wouldn’t be truly content until she was out of the car and declared fit and well.

“OK,” she was crying and Steve felt his heart clench at the sight.  He reached out and carefully took her tiny hand in his much larger one to reassure her he was there.

Chin had tried the door on the driver’s side but because the truck had struck the front panel, it had creased the door near the hinges preventing him from getting access.  He had to settle with just talking to his friend through the smashed window.

“How you doing brah?”

“Worried about Grace,” he replied quietly.

Looking into the back seat he couldn’t see any external injuries, “She looks alright Danny.  Steve’s got her and he won’t let her move until the EMTs have checked her out,” Chin was aware that Danny hadn’t even looked over his shoulder at Grace or over to him for that matter, he lowered his voice so that the little girl wouldn’t hear, “Where are you hurt?”

“I’m fine Chin.”

“Don’t lie to me Danny.  You can’t move your neck can you?”

“Well I can but it hurts,” he finally relented.

The sound of multiple vehicles with sirens going pulled into the intersection.  The fire and rescue truck was followed by two ambulances.  A couple of HPD cruisers shut down the intersection and diverted any traffic that was trying to get past the scene. 

One set of paramedics went to check on the truck and the other approached the Camaro.  The fire-fighters were disconnecting the batteries on the vehicles to prevent any chance of a spark that might cause a fire, though this wasn’t the movies and the chances of a car catching fire from this sort of impact was slim.

Steve and Chin spoke briefly to the EMTs that had arrived at the Camaro.  Steve had moved to sit beside Grace to allow one of them to check her; the other went round to Danny to assess him.

A short time later the EMT with Grace and Steve declared that he could find no outward signs of injuries but he wanted to put her in a collar and take her to the hospital as a precaution.

Danny was listening as the EMT, who had introduced himself as Andy, explained to the little girl what was happening.

“Steve?”

The man leaned forward so he could see his partner, “Yeah Danny, I’m here, what’s up?”

“Stay with Grace, please?  Call when you have news.”

“You don’t need to ask, of course I will.”

Danny could hear his daughter crying softly, “Grace…”

“Yes Danno,” she replied quietly.

“You let Andy help you and do exactly as he says alright.  Uncle Steve is going to stay with you.”

“But I want you Daddy,” she sobbed.

“I know Monkey, but I can’t be with you right now.  I’m kind of stuck here and it’s gonna take a little longer for me to get out.  You trust Uncle Steve don’t you?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“Good girl, so do I, but I also need you to look after him for me.  Can you do that?  Don’t let him flirt with any of those nurses at the hospital or annoy any of the doctors!”

“Hey!”

Grace giggled slightly at the look on her Uncle’s face, “I can do that for you Danno.”

“Thank you Gracie,” Danny sighed with relief to hear the little giggle and he also felt his partner’s hand squeeze his forearm gently, “Danno loves you.”

“I love you too.”

Andy secured a collar on the child and with Steve’s assistance removed her slowly from the car and strapped her to a gurney.  She held on to her Uncle’s hand tightly as they moved into the ambulance.

“Now are you going to let me look at you?” Jacob, the EMT standing by Danny’s window asked.  The whole time Grace had still been in the car the man hadn’t let him do more than a cursory examination.

“Knock yourself out.”

Jacob walked round the car to the passenger side and put the seat back allowing him better access to his patient.  “Can someone please pass me a collar,” he called out over his shoulder.

“Here you go Jake,” a female EMT appeared behind him.

“Thanks Amana,” Jake smiled at her. 

“Andy has gone with Grace so figured you’d need a hand.  Jim has the driver from the truck and is transporting him.”

“How is he?” asked Danny.

“Minor injuries, he’ll be just fine,” responded Amana, “How about we just concentrate on you for now?”

“I’m going to put the collar on now Danny, it should help some with that neck pain.  Then I’m going to give you a little oxygen and put in an IV for some pain relief,” once he’d done that he spoke again, “Going to need to speak to the fire chief and sort out how we’re getting you outta here, I’ll be right back.”

Danny watched as Chin, Jacob and the man he presumed to be the fire chief stood talking.  A day that had started out great had turned into a pile of steaming dog turd.  Grace was on her way to hospital with a neck collar on and strapped to a gurney, his second love, his Camaro, was probably trashed and he was stuck waiting for other people to get him out of said vehicle.

It seemed that the men had come to some agreement about how to extract Danny from this latest of disasters and Jacob returned, “Alright, they’re going to cut off the door and then we can assess the best way to free your legs.”

Twenty minutes later his door was gone and the fire-fighters had managed to somehow free his legs, which it had been established weren’t actually pinned so much as there just wasn’t enough space for him to manoeuvre them.  Danny was a bit hazy on the how, despite Jacob talking him through everything that was done.

Then came the worst part of all as far as Danny was concerned, they wanted to put him on a back board but would have to be gentle about how they moved him in case he had spinal injuries.  Initially they had been going to cut the roof off the Camaro but following an assessment of where his patient had feeling, Jacob thought that might be overkill in this case.  Between Jacob, Amana and several fire-fighters they managed to get him onto the back board without too much trouble.

Danny had remained detached and pretty much numb through the whole thing.  His thoughts were only of Grace, he answered any question directed at him but other than that he was silent.  Chin had expressed his concerns over this to Jacob and he promised to keep a close eye on Danny.

They had just laid Danny on the gurney when Chin’s cell rang, “Kelly.”

“Chin, its Steve, how’s Danny?”

“They just finished getting him out, we’re about to leave the scene.”

“Put me on speaker.”

Chin pressed the appropriate button, “You’re on.”

“Danny?”

“Steve, how’s Grace?” the detective asked, after removing the oxygen mask Jacob had placed there.

“Doctor Jensen says there are no broken bones, just some bruising.  She’s currently sitting up and talking with one of the nurses.  Rachel’s on her way too.”

“Shit, forgot about calling Rachel.”

“Hey, you had other things on your mind.”

“Can I speak to Grace?” Danny waved away Jacob’s insistence that he put the oxygen mask back on and they get moving.

“Yeah, just a second.”

“Danno?”

“Hey Monkey!”

“I’m not hurt.”

“I know, Uncle Steve just told me, I’m so glad babe.”

“Are you alright Daddy?”

“I’m fine now I know you’re going to be alright,” Danny’s eyes started to tear up with relief.  Suddenly he was overwhelmed with a feeling of dizziness and nausea.

Chin snatched the phone away seeing his friend pale significantly and Jacob quickly placed the oxygen mask back over his patient’s face, instructing him to take deep breaths.

“Daddy?  Daddy?”

Hearing Grace starting to get a little agitated Steve took the phone from her, “Danny?”

“Boss, they’re loading him up and we’re heading in.”

“Is everything alright?”

“He became nauseous and dizzy.  Jacob says his blood pressure is low, he thinks Danny’s in shock,” Chin climbed into the back of the ambulance having told Kono to take Steve’s truck and meet him at the hospital, “We’ll be at the hospital in ten minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting,” Steve disconnected the call and looked into the big brown watering eyes of Danny’s eight year old daughter, “Hey, what’s this?” He pulled her gently into his arms.

“Daddy wouldn’t answer me.”

Steve knew Danny didn’t lie to his daughter, so he had to tell her the truth, or at least a condensed version, “Your Dad was so relieved to hear about you being alright that he got a little bit dizzy.  It’s alright Chin is with him and they’re coming in, you’ll be able to see him soon.”

Grace nuzzled further into Steve’s embrace and he sat down on the bed with her and settled her in his lap rocking her gently until he felt her relax against him as she fell asleep.  That was how Rachel found them when she rushed into the room a short time later.  Although desperate to hold her daughter she didn’t want to wake her, so perched on the bed next to the SEAL and contented herself with placing a hand gently on the back of her slumbering daughter.

 

 

\---- 5-0 ----

 

 

Doctor Jensen greeted Danny as he was wheeled into trauma, “Hello again Danny!  What have you been up to _this_ time?”

“Car accident,” the response was muffled through the oxygen mask that was still in place.

Jacob gave a quick rundown on his patient’s vitals and potential injuries before disconnecting Danny from the EMT paraphernalia to allow him to be hooked up to the ER’s instead, “Take it easy Danny,” he called out as he left.

Danny waved his hand in response before turning his attention back to his doctor, wondering if he was going to be able to talk him into allowing him out of the uncomfortable neck brace he was in.  The next words out of Doctor Jensen’s mouth thwarted that idea.

“Alright, collar stays on until we have x-rays,” the doctor efficiently checked the rest of Danny for injuries, paying close attention to both his legs.

A nurse that Danny didn’t recognise took another set of vitals from him and handed them over to the doctor, which in turn caused him to frown.

“Danny, your temperature is a bit on the low side so we’re going to put a warming blanket over you to help with that,” he turned to the nurse and gave her further instructions, “I want another litre of saline hung, his blood pressures still low and keep that oxygen on him until his O2 sats come back up,” she nodded and went off to collect some more fluids.

“What’s going on?  Can I see Grace?” Danny managed to ask.

“You’re in shock Danny, these are just measures to help stabilise you.”

“Shock?”

“Yes, psychological shock.  You had quite a scare this morning and your body is presenting physical symptoms to the psychological stress.  Once your vitals level off we’ll get those x-rays, I want you to just rest for now and let the nurses know if you’re in any pain.”

“Can I see Grace?”

“If I let her in to see you will you rest?”

“Yes.”

The doctor gave a long suffering sigh and left the room.  He returned a short while later with a sleepy Grace latched firmly to Steve and Rachel following, “Alright this is against my better judgement.  Grace wouldn’t let go of Steve and her mother wouldn’t, naturally, leave Grace, so I’m letting all three of them in for a few moments, then I expect you to rest,” he turned to the visitors, “A few minutes and don’t upset him or over excite him please!”

Steve carried Grace over to the bed and sat down on a chair with her in his lap, Rachel stood next to him with her hand resting on Grace’s head.

“Hey Monkey.”

“You sound funny.”

Danny lifted his hand and removed the mask, “Is this better?”

“A little, you’re kind of slurring your words.”

“That’ll be the good painkillers Gracie,” Steve grinned.

“Detective Williams put the mask back on or I’ll get Doctor Jensen back in here!” The strident voice of one of the nurses advised.

Danny grimaced but did as he was told.  The nurse was bad enough but a lecture from Doctor Jensen was not high on his list of priorities at that moment.

“How are you doing partner?”

“I’m fine.”

“Fine?  What do you think Grace?”

“I don’t think he’s fine Uncle Steve.”

“You’re ganging up on me with Super SEAL now huh?” Danny pointed from his daughter to his partner.

“You’re not fine Daddy.  You’re in hospital, but Doctor Jensen says you will be fine and Uncle Steve has said that he’ll take care of you and Mommy said I can come and visit you…”

“Take a breath Gracie,” Danny smiled indulgently.

“Grace we should let your father rest now, you can see him again later.  Daniel, we will be back once the doctor is allowing visitors.”

“Thanks Rachel.”

Steve held Grace so she was hanging over her father’s head and could plant a kiss on his temple then he handed her over to Rachel and watched as they left, “How are you really?”

“Glad that Grace is OK.  Thank you for staying with her, she was so scared and I couldn’t do anything….”

“Hey, Doctor Jensen said no getting upset.  She’s fine and you’re welcome.  Now you need to concentrate on you.  Doc says that you’re suffering from shock and multiple contusions on your legs.”

“Yeah.  I wish they’d take this collar off and this oxygen mask.  Damn uncomfortable!”

“We’ll be sending you for your x-rays shortly Danny, if they’re clear we’ll remove the collar.  The mask can be swapped now for a nasal cannula,” Doctor Jensen advised as he walked into the room giving the latest vitals the once over.

“Hey, how’s the other driver?”

Steve scowled, “Fine.”

“Steven?”

“He had minor lacerations and a broken nose from where the airbag deployed in his face.  Least he deserves if you ask me!”

“Care to elaborate?”

“He was drunk Danny, twice the legal limit!”

“It wasn’t even eight in the morning!” Danny was stunned.  Some lowlife could have killed someone because they were drunk before 08:00 AM!

“That’s enough, Danny, I thought I was clear when I said no getting upset?” Doctor Jensen cut in.

Taking the hint Steve left his partner to return to the waiting room.  Chin and Kono needed to be told what was happening and he wanted to find out what the situation was with the driver of the truck that had hit the Camaro.

 

 

\---- 5-0 ----

 

 

Several hours later Danny was being released into the tender loving care of Steve, though Danny’s words for it were a lot less polite.  His x-rays were clear and his vitals had stabilised, so there was no need for him to stay in hospital, however he had whiplash and some nasty bruises over his legs.  He wouldn’t be able to drive and would struggle with simple everyday things while his neck was so stiff he could barely move it, hence the recuperation time required at McGarrett’s home.

Steve unlocked the front door and ushered Danny in, dropping his bag that they had collected from his apartment at the foot of the stairs.  He was just settling Danny into his recliner with plenty of cushions to support his injured neck when there was a knock at the door, followed by it opening and the voices of the 5-0 cousins calling out.

“Come in,” Steve called back.

The pair entered the living area with three boxes of pizza, some beer and soda.  Within minutes the four team mates, come dysfunctional family members, were all eating.  Kono sorted out a plate for Danny so he didn’t have to get up.

As they finished and the detritus of the meal was cleared away Danny groaned, which immediately led to three concerned friends hovering, asking him what was wrong.

“I was just thinking about the fact I have to contact my insurance company.”

“Don’t worry about it brah,” Chin told him.

“Don’t worry about it?  It’s my only mode of transport.  It’s what I use to get my little girl.  It’s what I use to get me to work, when my Neanderthal partner isn’t driving it of course!”

“Danny you won’t be able to drive for a while…”

“Thanks for pointing that out, sensitive Super SEAL!”

“By the time you can drive again, it will all be sorted,” Steve ignored Danny’s interruption.  He had an idea that this wasn’t what was upsetting his friend.

“Don’t suppose you could get your hands on a tank for me Super SEAL?”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“It’s either that or I wrap Grace up in cotton wool and lock her in the house!”

“It wasn’t your fault Danny, the guy was drunk!”

“Doesn’t change the fact that my daughter, my reason for being, could have been killed Steven!”

The Navy SEAL perched on the arm of the chair and rested a hand on Danny’s shoulder and Chin did the same on his other side while Kono knelt on the floor and rested her hands on his knees.

“Danny, you can’t keep Grace away from every danger out there.  You know that!”

“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her.”

“You know that we’ll all do everything we can to protect her,” Chin stated.

“I know but…”

“There’s no but here brah.  What happened today was an accident.  It was out of your control,” Kono gently reminded him.

“I…”

“Danny, sometimes bad stuff happens to good people.  Whatever happens, to you, to Grace, to any of this team, we’ll be here for one another,” assured Steve.

Sighing, Danny knew that he was being irrational.  There were dangers out there worse than a drunk driver, but Kono was right, it was an accident.  He would just have to accept that there were some things he couldn’t protect Grace from.

“Thanks,” Danny said softly.

The other three nodded before moving to give him some space.  Steve turned on the TV and they watched a rerun of an old cop show.  It was clear Danny still wasn’t quite himself as he failed to comment on the lack of proper procedure but the main thing was that he and Grace weren’t badly hurt.  They’d get him through his recovery and back behind the wheel because that’s what ohana does.

 

 

 


End file.
